Saturday, August 27, 2011

She never loved me...!
No, that heart is closed to me,
She has no love for me...!
I can still see her
How sad she seemed
The day she saw my white hair
When she came here from France.
No, she has no love for me.

Where am I...? Those torches
They’ve nearly burned out...!
The sunrise brightens my balcony!Dawn is already breaking!
I see my days passing slowly!Sleep, O God!
Vanished from my languishing eyes!
I will sleep alone in my royal mantle
When my day has reached evening;
I will sleep alone under the dark vault
There, in the Escurial tomb!
If the regal crown could give me power
To read the hearts, that God alone can see...!
If the prince is sleeping, the traitor is waking;
The king loses his crown, and his honor!

Boris Christoff sings King Phillip's aria from Verdi's Don Carlo.
His voice is not quite in its prime, but still has incredible and unique qualities.
Vienna, 1980s.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Leporello
Laboring night and day,
For a man who is never happy,
To endure the wind and rain,
To eat badly, to sleep badly.
I want to become a gentleman
And I don’t want to serve anymore...
Oh what a dear great man!
He wants to stay inside with the beauty,
While I have to keep watch!
I want to become a gentleman
And I don’t want to serve anymore…
I think I hear people coming
I don’t want to make a sound.

Donna Anna
Don’t hope, if you don’t kill me,
I’ll never let you go!

Don Giovanni
Mad woman! Vain cries,
You’ll never know who I am!

Leporello
What a rucuss! Oh heavens, what cries!
The master is in new trouble.

Donna Anna
People! Servants! Get the traitor!

Don Giovanni
Be quiet and tremble at my fury!

Donna Anna
Villain!

Don Giovanni
Watch yourself!

Leporello
Wait and see, the villain
Will cast me down!

Donna Anna
Like a desperate fury
I will know you and follow you!

Don Giovanni
This desperate fury
Wants to cast me down!

Il Commendatore
Leave her alone, wretch!
Fight me!

Don Giovanni
Go away, I won’t condescend
To fight with you.

Il Commendatore
Do you think you can run away from me?

Leporello
I could at least leave here!

Don Giovanni
Wretch, wait,
If you want to die!

Il Commendatore
Ah, rescue me! I am betrayed!
The assassin has injured me,
And from the throbbing breast
I feel the soul depart.

Don Giovanni
Ah, already the unfortunate has fallen,
Labored and agonizing,
Already from the throbbing bosom
I see the soul depart.

Leporello
What mischief! What excess!
Within a breast full of fear
I feel my heart trembling!
I don’t know what to do, what to say.